Union vs CSA Guerrilla

[Patrick H]

I have a couple of comments on the thesis that are not harsh criticism, but they do reflect my "Missouri-centric" view of the events of the Civil War. First, the section on cavalry raiders seemed almost entirely about Forrest and Morgan. I wondered if the author had even heard of J. O. Shelby. Second, he refers to the Ozark Plains "on the eastern border of the state seeing the most violence." He surely meant to write "western border," and in fact does say else where that most of the violence happened in the counties bordering Kansas. But on the whole I found this to be a good paper.

 

[USS ALASKA]

The author also said that Union authorities jailed 5 women who were related to guerrillas and they were killed in a jail collapse. Actually, Union authorities held a great number of women who were suspected of helping guerrillas. More that 20 women where held in a building that did collapse and 5 were killed and many others were gravely injuried. These women were all directly related to guerrillas who rode with Quantrill and the raid on Lawrence, KS was in retaliation for their deaths. (a real cause and effect example).

Sir, interesting you mentioned that - just stumbled on to...

Bushwhacker Belles : Exploring Gender, Guerrilla Warfare, and the Union Provost Marshal Records
A Non-Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Graduate School
University of Missouri-Kansas City
In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the degree Master of Arts
By Stephanie M. Rohr
Diane Mutti Burke, Non-Thesis Supervisor
AUGUST 2014

ABSTRACT
The objective of this study is to illuminate the stories of women involved with guerrilla warfare in Missouri during the Civil War by creating a website that will collectively draw on primary and secondary source materials to provide the first comprehensive historical study in a public forum of Missouri's female guerrillas. Much of the source material for this project is drawn from the Union Provost Marshal Records. Included in the case files of Missourians accused of disloyalty are letters, testimonies, prison records, and banishment orders. Other source material used to identify these women and their activities come from newspapers, memoirs by guerrillas, census records, and county histories. The website will collectively display and evaluate these documents. Biographical information and scanned documents will be the foundation of the website, serving as an online archive. The website will include an evaluation of the experiences of women in Civil War Missouri in the form of an essay focusing on the findings
from the Union Provost Marshal Records.

The archival materials found on the website will contribute to future humanities scholarship on female guerrillas, women's experiences during the Civil War, and the conflict in Missouri. This website will include primary documents that previously have not been displayed in one unified location. Currently a majority of the materials related to female guerrillas are located at the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington D.C. and various institutions in the state of Missouri. Scanning the documents and placing them all in one location online will allow users to easily access these materials in one place.

The audience for this project will be historians -- professional and amateur members of the public, and students, who are interested in many fields of history, including the Civil War, the war in Missouri, guerrilla warfare, William Clarke Quantrill, gender studies, military history, and legal history. The website is geared towards users with levels of education from the secondary level to professional scholars. Users can access this site and use the material for their own research interests, but can also gather information from the essays and biographical sketches. The significance of this online digital exhibit is to provide primary source materials that show female guerrilla activity in Missouri but also to understand female agency during the Civil War. In the further reading section, users can find scholarly secondary materials to assist them in their research of guerrilla warfare, the Civil War, Missouri during the Civil War, and women's wartime experiences.

https://mospace.umsystem.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10355/43696/RohrBusBel.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[Booner]

Sir, interesting you mentioned that - just stumbled on to...

Bushwhacker Belles : Exploring Gender, Guerrilla Warfare, and the Union Provost Marshal Records
A Non-Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Graduate School
University of Missouri-Kansas City
In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the degree Master of Arts
By Stephanie M. Rohr
Diane Mutti Burke, Non-Thesis Supervisor
AUGUST 2014

ABSTRACT
The objective of this study is to illuminate the stories of women involved with guerrilla warfare in Missouri during the Civil War by creating a website that will collectively draw on primary and secondary source materials to provide the first comprehensive historical study in a public forum of Missouri's female guerrillas. Much of the source material for this project is drawn from the Union Provost Marshal Records. Included in the case files of Missourians accused of disloyalty are letters, testimonies, prison records, and banishment orders. Other source material used to identify these women and their activities come from newspapers, memoirs by guerrillas, census records, and county histories. The website will collectively display and evaluate these documents. Biographical information and scanned documents will be the foundation of the website, serving as an online archive. The website will include an evaluation of the experiences of women in Civil War Missouri in the form of an essay focusing on the findings
from the Union Provost Marshal Records.

The archival materials found on the website will contribute to future humanities scholarship on female guerrillas, women's experiences during the Civil War, and the conflict in Missouri. This website will include primary documents that previously have not been displayed in one unified location. Currently a majority of the materials related to female guerrillas are located at the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington D.C. and various institutions in the state of Missouri. Scanning the documents and placing them all in one location online will allow users to easily access these materials in one place.

The audience for this project will be historians -- professional and amateur members of the public, and students, who are interested in many fields of history, including the Civil War, the war in Missouri, guerrilla warfare, William Clarke Quantrill, gender studies, military history, and legal history. The website is geared towards users with levels of education from the secondary level to professional scholars. Users can access this site and use the material for their own research interests, but can also gather information from the essays and biographical sketches. The significance of this online digital exhibit is to provide primary source materials that show female guerrilla activity in Missouri but also to understand female agency during the Civil War. In the further reading section, users can find scholarly secondary materials to assist them in their research of guerrilla warfare, the Civil War, Missouri during the Civil War, and women's wartime experiences.

https://mospace.umsystem.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10355/43696/RohrBusBel.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

Thank you. More reading to be done.
I think I have a book entitled "Bushwhacker Belles." I'll have to look to see if it's related somehow to Ms. Rohr.

 

[Booner]

I have a couple of comments on the thesis that are not harsh criticism, but they do reflect my "Missouri-centric" view of the events of the Civil War. First, the section on cavalry raiders seemed almost entirely about Forrest and Morgan. I wondered if the author had even heard of J. O. Shelby. Second, he refers to the Ozark Plains "on the eastern border of the state seeing the most violence." He surely meant to write "western border," and in fact does say else where that most of the violence happened in the counties bordering Kansas. But on the whole I found this to be a good paper.

I forgot about the statement regarding the Eastern Ozark Plains. I scratched my head when I read it. Certainly, he had his directions wrong.

I didn't read through his section on cavalry raiders, but I'm not surprised that no mention was made of Shelby. It just proves that the war fought out here gets such little attention. "Jeb Stuart rode around the Union Army. Gen Shelby rode around Missouri!"

 

[Lubliner]

My biggest area of criticism is the lack of pointing out Union atrocities,

I was curious to know after following the exploits of William Clark in Kentucky, early 1865 labeled as the Sue Mundy raids, if this lack of Union atrocity was coupled with no mention of the commanding officers giving and receiving orders to make no prisoners of guerillas upon apprehension, and any men caught going armed, to kill them as well?
Lubliner.

 

[Patrick H]

Thank you. More reading to be done.
I think I have a book entitled "Bushwhacker Belles." I'll have to look to see if it's related somehow to Ms. Rohr.

I have read Bushwhacker Belles, but am not sure if the book I read is the non-thesis described above, or if the title is just a coincidence. It was a pretty good read.

 

[Lusty Murfax]

I have a couple of comments on the thesis that are not harsh criticism, but they do reflect my "Missouri-centric" view of the events of the Civil War. First, the section on cavalry raiders seemed almost entirely about Forrest and Morgan. I wondered if the author had even heard of J. O. Shelby. Second, he refers to the Ozark Plains "on the eastern border of the state seeing the most violence." He surely meant to write "western border," and in fact does say else where that most of the violence happened in the counties bordering Kansas. But on the whole I found this to be a good paper.

The Ozark plateau is generally situated south and southeast of the 'burned district' Counties. I guess the eastern edge of Vernon Co. can be defined as within the edge of the Zarks, though you'd have to be a geologist to understand the difference.

 

[USS ALASKA]

Colby College
Digital Commons @ Colby
Honors Theses Student Research
2001

Civil War in Missouri: a look at Confederate guerrillas' four-stage devolution
Drew Johnson
Colby College

This Honors Thesis (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Research at Digital Commons @ Colby. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Colby.

Personal bitterness and cruelty characterized the Civil War in Missouri. It was a conflict that, without exaggeration, lasted almost 11 years. The rising sectionalism of the 1850s played out most violently during neighboring Kansas' rise to statehood in the mid to late 1850s. Missouri was a slave state and determined to see Kansas enter the Union as a slave state as well. Since the decision rested on a vote by the people in Kansas, hordes of "border ruffians" from Missouri attempted to strong-arm election results. The conflicts turned violent. When the Civil War began Missouri clung precariously to conditional Unionism but soon their state government split. One faction, lead by the present governor, Claiborne Jackson, joined the Confederacy, while the Union recognized St Louis as new Union capital. By the spring of 1862, Union forces had driven the Confederate army from the state. Confederate guerrillas remained, however, and the rest of the war in Missouri and Kansas was fought by Federal patrols, Confederate guerrillas and Kansas's abolitionists in a bloody, vengeful manner. General Robert E. Lee's surrender in early April 1865 brought little closure to the Kansas-Missouri border war. Emotions were seared. and the countryside was ravaged. The reconstruction period in Missouri began in the same chaos in which the war had ended.

https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1127&context=honorstheses

Sirs, file too large to attach. Please see above link.

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[Lusty Murfax]

"border ruffians" from Missouri "

The conflict on Missouri's western border is rarely blamed on 'ruffians' from New England. Mr. Johnson didn't bother to research beyond the winner's version of history.

 

[USS ALASKA]

University of Texas at Tyler
Scholar Works at UT Tyler
History Theses History and Political Science
Fall 7-16-2012

Cope, Cooperate, Combat: Civilian Responses to Union Occupation in Saline County, Missouri, during the Civil War
Elle Harvell

This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the History and Political Science at Scholar Works at UT Tyler. It has been accepted for inclusion in History Theses by an authorized administrator of Scholar Works at UT Tyler. For more information, please contact [email protected].

ABSTRACT
The Union occupation of Saline County, Missouri, during the Civil War brought many challenges to the civilian population. Civilians responded to the federal presence in a variety of ways: a few citizens coped with the situation, most cooperated in the face of an immediate threat, and others combated the federal incursion ruthlessly. A violent cycle of resistance and retaliation erupted between the pro-Confederate civilians and guerillas and the federals. Federal attempts to punish the Confederate enemy and to stabilize society encouraged more resistance. Faced with increasing defiance, the Union hardened policies. The presence of two rival forces in the county sharply divided the people's sympathies, destroying neutrality. Those who remained loyal to the Union suffered grievously since the Union failed to stabilize the situation and to protect them from guerrilla attacks. Some civilians cooperated with both Union soldiers and guerrillas; however, this ambiguity only made them targets for both sides. Furthermore, Union forces tried to subordinate the pro-Confederate population by seizing local law, disrupting gender norms and familial structures, and inverting class, racial, and ethnic hierarchies, which initiated a complete dismantling of the antebellum southern social structure. By 1865, the citizens of Saline County, the majority of which had favored moderation and compromise before the war, had had their way of life destroyed by years of Union hostility and guerrilla violence: yet, hope remained.

https://scholarworks.uttyler.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=history_grad

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[Booner]

University of Texas at Tyler
Scholar Works at UT Tyler
History Theses History and Political Science
Fall 7-16-2012

Cope, Cooperate, Combat: Civilian Responses to Union Occupation in Saline County, Missouri, during the Civil War
Elle Harvell

This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the History and Political Science at Scholar Works at UT Tyler. It has been accepted for inclusion in History Theses by an authorized administrator of Scholar Works at UT Tyler. For more information, please contact [email protected].

ABSTRACT
The Union occupation of Saline County, Missouri, during the Civil War brought many challenges to the civilian population. Civilians responded to the federal presence in a variety of ways: a few citizens coped with the situation, most cooperated in the face of an immediate threat, and others combated the federal incursion ruthlessly. A violent cycle of resistance and retaliation erupted between the pro-Confederate civilians and guerillas and the federals. Federal attempts to punish the Confederate enemy and to stabilize society encouraged more resistance. Faced with increasing defiance, the Union hardened policies. The presence of two rival forces in the county sharply divided the people's sympathies, destroying neutrality. Those who remained loyal to the Union suffered grievously since the Union failed to stabilize the situation and to protect them from guerrilla attacks. Some civilians cooperated with both Union soldiers and guerrillas; however, this ambiguity only made them targets for both sides. Furthermore, Union forces tried to subordinate the pro-Confederate population by seizing local law, disrupting gender norms and familial structures, and inverting class, racial, and ethnic hierarchies, which initiated a complete dismantling of the antebellum southern social structure. By 1865, the citizens of Saline County, the majority of which had favored moderation and compromise before the war, had had their way of life destroyed by years of Union hostility and guerrilla violence: yet, hope remained.

https://scholarworks.uttyler.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=history_grad

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

Mr. Alaska,
You always come up with the most interesting thesis. Thank you.
I don't always agree with them, but I always find them interesting to one degree or another.
However, the one you posted from Drew Johnson of Colby College, a thesis I had high hopes for, fell short. Not ever having gone through the whole thesis process, I wonder how errors in a thesis are handled. I read the first 6 or 7 pages of my Johnson's thesis and then I had to put it down. As a Missourian and somewhat knowledgeable about the guerilla war fought here, and at least the early history of our state, I caught at least three obvious errors in his thesis in those first few pages. Johnson stated Missouri became a state in 1820-no, it was 1821. He also said the Boonslick region of Missouri was named after the town of Boonville. As a resident of Boonville I found that rather shocking, as this area of Missouri was called the Boonslick long before anyone settled here or had a idea of naming this town after the Boone family. Then he completely lost me on how the early Missouri settlers were mostly northerners but a few had slaves; it was just such a convoluted explanation I couldn't follow it. Simply put, the early settlers of Missouri were primarily from the upper South, and the brought their southern at of life with them. Their economic ties were also with the south. Their main cash crops, tobacco and hemp went to St. Louis and then down to New Orleans.
As I said, because of these errors, I couldn't read more than a handful of pages. I don't write all of this as a criticism of what you post; on the contrary I greatly appreciate your sharing what you have uncovered. I just question what passes for education.

Thanks again.

 

[USS ALASKA]

Mr. Alaska,
You always come up with the most interesting thesis. Thank you.
I don't always agree with them, but I always find them interesting to one degree or another.
However, the one you posted from Drew Johnson of Colby College, a thesis I had high hopes for, fell short.

Sir, absolutely no offensive taken! Since I am learning about this topic, feedback like yours is greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your help,
USS ALASKA

 

[Booner]

Sir, absolutely no offensive taken! Since I am learning about this topic, feedback like yours is greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your help,
USS ALASKA

Good!
Glad to see someone else interested in the guerilla side of the war.
Keep on finding those thesis. Isn't it interesting that they are all about 10-15 years old.

 

[USS ALASKA]

Sirs, while not Missouri, this might be of interest...

Reluctant Rebs & "Homegrown Yanks": East Tennesseans in the Civil War | Regimental Histories

Should read, "13th Cavalry" instead of Infantry.

civilwartalk.com

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

Marshall University
Marshall Digital Scholar
Theses, Dissertations and Capstones
2019

Civil neighbors to violent foes: guerrilla warfare in western Virginia during the Civil War
Lauren Michelle Milton

This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Marshall Digital Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses, Dissertations and Capstones by an authorized administrator of Marshall Digital Scholar. For more information, please [email protected], [email protected]

ABSTRACT
"Civil Neighbors to Violent Foes" researches the effect of guerrilla warfare in West Virginia during a national war and statehood movement, and the impact that emotions had on the people of the state. When President Lincoln won the election in 1860, secession was inevitable and war a likely possibility. At the time, West Virginia was still a part of Virginia, but old state political divisions, combined with the current national political divisions, fueled the fire for a new state, separate from Virginia and loyal to the Union. It would take West Virginia two years from the time delegates began holding conventions in 1861 to obtain statehood on June 20, 1863. In response to the statehood movement and the Civil War, guerrilla warfare ran rampant all over the new state. This thesis analyzes this irregular warfare. Further, this thesis analyzes the emotions that were driving the war and the people, whether soldiers, guerrillas, or innocent citizens. This thesis contributes to the field of guerrilla warfare by arguing that betrayal is the emotion that led to all emotions and people's choice to partake in guerrilla warfare. Further, while significant scholarship does exist on guerrilla warfare in the Civil War in the western United States, scholarship on the topic in West Virginia is limited. This thesis adds to that limited scholarship. In addition, this thesis provides a further study on the possible effect emotions can have on people during chaotic events such as war. Understanding guerrilla warfare fully and completely is imperative in understanding the Civil War, as its issues started within homes and communities, just as did guerrilla warfare's.

https://mds.marshall.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2201&context=etd

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[Parmenter]

I would also bring your attention to CSA guerilla activity in Western Virginia which became West Virginia in 1863. Following the 1861 Battle of Phillipi most of western Virginia was behind Union lines. I have a number of Partisan Rangers, bushwhackers, & Southern sympathizers in my family ancestral past with a number of those killed or imprisoned at Camp Chase, Ohio on charges of 'hiding, abetting or helping Rebels etc.'. Habeas Corpus was around during those years. With their men away at war women and children often experience hardships and depravations. There was often a breakdown of law and order with a level of violence only surpassed by Missouri and Kansas. One book I would recommend is 'Civilian War in West Virginia, The Moccasin Rangers' by George A. Hall.

 

[USS ALASKA]

LIBERTY UNIVERSITY

"THEY CANNOT CATCH GUERRILLAS IN THE MOUNTAINS ANY MORE THAN A COW CAN CATCH FLEAS": GUERRILLA WARFARE IN WESTERN VIRGINIA, 1861-1865

A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE HISTORY DEPARTMENT IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF HISTORY BY KARISSA A. MARKEN
LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA
APRIL 2014


INTRODUCTION
The American Civil War unleashed great violence and chaos in the western mountains of Virginia. There, in Appalachia, guerrilla warfare impacted a greater number of southerners than the war's organized military campaigns. It quickly evolved into two distinct types: hostilities aimed against outside invaders and violence that occurred among neighbors. Missouri and Arkansas experienced this conflict on the largest scale, but the Appalachian Mountains, where the terrain provided shelter and the element of surprise for guerrillas, also suffered a sizable amount of armed internal conflict. From northern Georgia, western North Carolina and Virginia, and eastern Tennessee and Kentucky, mountaineers battled national and state upheaval while trying to discern which political allegiances offered the securest future. This was especially challenging for those who lived along the northern border of the Confederacy, an area that changed hands as organized troops battled for supremacy. In addition, those in western Virginia experienced turbulence on two levels—a division of the state occurring within the division of the country. The conflict there between Unionists and secessionists remained bitter throughout the war, even after 50 counties split away to form the state of West Virginia in 1863.

https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1325&context=masters

I can't find a copywrite or release so to be on the safe side, please use the above link.

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

Collection; Master of Military Art and Science Theses
Title; Mosby's Rangers and partisan warfare.
Author; Jones, Freeman E.

Abstract
Colonel John Singleton Mosby led the most successful partisan campaign during the Civil War. Major General J. E. B. Stuart, the Confederate Cavalry commander, allowed Mosby to form an unconventional unit with nine volunteers in December 1862. Mosby then organized, trained, and equipped the 43d Battalion of Virginia Cavalry, better known as Mosby's Rangers. This unit grew to almost one thousand men in strength and conducted many daring raids on the Union forces and lines of communication. Mosby, nicknamed the Gray Ghost, tied down Union troops in Virginia and Maryland and relieved pressure on General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia. The Rangers also provided timely and accurate intelligence to Confederate corps-level units. This study examines Mosby's campaign from the unit's formation in 1863 until termination of the war in 1865. All aspects of this unconventional campaign are described with emphasis on Mosby's tactics, techniques, and procedures. This study provides an excellent example of the successful employment of partisan warfare and the attempts to combat it. It concludes with the lessons learned and their contribution to current Army doctrine.

Series; Command and General Staff College (CGSC) MMAS thesis
Publisher; Fort Leavenworth, KS : US Army Command and General Staff College,
Date, Original; 1993-06-03
Date, Digital; 2007
Call number; ADA 272930
Release statement; Approved for public release; Distribution is unlimited. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the student-authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College or any other governmental agency. (References to these studies should include the foregoing statement.)
Repository; Combined Arms Research Library
Library; Combined Arms Research Library Digital Library
Date created; 2007-11-07

CONTENTdm

cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[Bruce Vail]

Collection; Master of Military Art and Science Theses
Title; Mosby's Rangers and partisan warfare.
Author; Jones, Freeman E.

Abstract
Colonel John Singleton Mosby led the most successful partisan campaign during the Civil War. Major General J. E. B. Stuart, the Confederate Cavalry commander, allowed Mosby to form an unconventional unit with nine volunteers in December 1862. Mosby then organized, trained, and equipped the 43d Battalion of Virginia Cavalry, better known as Mosby's Rangers. This unit grew to almost one thousand men in strength and conducted many daring raids on the Union forces and lines of communication. Mosby, nicknamed the Gray Ghost, tied down Union troops in Virginia and Maryland and relieved pressure on General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia. The Rangers also provided timely and accurate intelligence to Confederate corps-level units. This study examines Mosby's campaign from the unit's formation in 1863 until termination of the war in 1865. All aspects of this unconventional campaign are described with emphasis on Mosby's tactics, techniques, and procedures. This study provides an excellent example of the successful employment of partisan warfare and the attempts to combat it. It concludes with the lessons learned and their contribution to current Army doctrine.

Series; Command and General Staff College (CGSC) MMAS thesis
Publisher; Fort Leavenworth, KS : US Army Command and General Staff College,
Date, Original; 1993-06-03
Date, Digital; 2007
Call number; ADA 272930
Release statement; Approved for public release; Distribution is unlimited. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the student-authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College or any other governmental agency. (References to these studies should include the foregoing statement.)
Repository; Combined Arms Research Library
Library; Combined Arms Research Library Digital Library
Date created; 2007-11-07

CONTENTdm

cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

What a strange coincidence. I knew Freeman Jones as a college student back in the 1970s.

 

[TerryB]

I have a thread on Tinker Dave. East Tn was pretty wild no doubt. Col.Kirk's 2nd and 3rd North Carolina Mounted Infantry Union was active in Tn as well as western North Carolina and had many men from both states as well as a few from Ga. I also have a thread on Col. Kirk. I take it Tinker Dave's men where eligible for Union pensions post war?
Leftyhunter

I believe it took an act of congress, but yes they got full benefits.